Orders Are More Like Guidelines, Really
by Lessie Daymon
Summary: Did you really think Lux could spend so many years as a spy without meeting any of her future league opponents? Of course not! So with a little artistic license, here's a mostly old-canon based AU in which Lux's adventures as an infiltrator bring her to Noxus, Ionia, Zaun... And more! Lux and ensemble. New champs in every chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Did you really think Lux could spend so many years as a spy without meeting any of her league opponents? Of course not! So with a little artistic license, here's a mostly old-canon based AU in which Lux's adventures as an infiltrator bring her to Noxus, Ionia, Zaun... And more! Lux and ensemble. I'll add new champions featured in every chapter, so read it through or skip to the chapter with your favorite!

Feel free to review to request your favs!

—

Chapter 1: Ekko

There was a thick, heady scent in the air and clouds of blue and gray smoke billowed densely against the ceiling. Even after refusing one of the strange, glowing things the Zaunites passed around like cigarettes, Lux felt lightheaded and floaty from the smog that filled the room. She could almost forget what had brought her here.

What was a Demacian doing in Zaun, anyway? So far, no one had even second-guessed her identity. Getting in had been a joke. A state without firm governance couldn't expect to protect its borders, and Lux doubted she was the only infiltrator on this block, let alone within the city.

She was supposed to be getting ahold of a particularly elusive bit of tech- "by any means necessary", they'd said, so here she was. (Well, within reason. They weren't _Noxian_. They never really meant 'by any means'; that had been her first lesson.)

And so, Lux had been to enough parties in the last two weeks to make up for every year of college Demacia had taken from her. Tonight, she thought it might finally pay off.

"Heeeey! Helloooo, Runeterra to Lila, you there?" Somebody had thrown an arm over her shoulders. Lux blinked at the slim, dark-skinned boy, still dazed from the smoke. "Are you always such an airhead, or am I boring you?" He made a playful, pouty face and Lux giggled. He couldn't have been older than thirteen, but carried himself with all the swagger of an accomplished techmaturgist- and, well. That was fair.

"Noooo." She drew the word out, pursing her lips, painted bubblegum-pink, "You're not boring, I'm just thinking."

"You do too much of that," He grinned from ear to ear and shook her by the shoulders. "You know, you make this weird face when you're thinking, like some-"

"Hey, um, Ekko?" One of the younger kids, barely as tall as the couch they were sprawled on, had leaned up to tap her target on the shoulder.

"Ajuna! Hey, hey! You've met Lila, right?" Ekko was nearly manic with excitement and Lux tried to turn, twisting until she was sitting on his lap. She giggled harmlessly, leaning her chin against his shoulder to look at Ajuna. "Hiya."

"...Hi. Are you guys, uh…?" He looked a little sheepish, as if he'd walked in on something he shouldn't have.

" _Best_ friends? Oh yeah. But not like you and me, 'Juna, don't worry." He held out a fist and, apparently recognizing the gesture, the younger child tapped his knuckles to it with a grin. ( _Fascinating_.)

The room was getting noiser, Lux noticed absently, though the smoke had started to filter away (as best it could in Zaun).

"So did you get the stuff?"

"Mmhm. Well, Vi got it, me 'n Jinx just brought it here." Ajuna smiled sheepishly again, holding something with both hands behind his back.

(The two older girls were somewhere off by the door, chatting with a growing crowd of teens and passing something shiny around the group.)

"Well hand it over!"

That would have sounded very rude where Lux came from, but people hardly used 'please' or 'thank you' here. They barely even asked for things. Friendly inflections and bold-faced grins were meant to their message clear. The younger child tossed a tiny jar into the air effortlessly into Ekko's palm.

Lux peered at it skeptically, still couched in the inventor's lap. He wound his arms around her to open the jar, squeezing her playfully, and quickly kissed her cheek before he twisted off the cap. Lux blushed (something she didn't have to fake- she hadn't actually been kissed, before leaving Demacia) and slid onto the couch beside him when he pulled back his arms.

"Aww, don't get all shy on me. C'mere, I'll do you first." He winked in a way that a fourteen year old shouldn't, and Lux thought absently that she might have not caught the joke, a year ago.

"I dunno, Ekko..."

"C'mon, nobody died from it yet! ... And if you did, I'd turn it back. Promise." Oh, right. The reason she was here.

Lux wasn't worried about a bad trip, she wanted to be clear for the mission!

(...but refusing might just as easily jeopardize it, and it did look so _cool_...)

"Okaaay! Okay. Just a little." She looked shyly through her lashes at him in a carefully practiced way, and stuck her arm out cautiously. He reached with two fingers into the jar (like a miniature version of what the cooks would store their jam in, but this didn't look at all safe to eat...) and took her hand into his, massaging it into her palm like lotion. It glowed faintly as it dissolved into her skin and Lux felt lightheaded, simultaneously watching and trying to unravel the effects. Was there magic in this? It was definitely toxic... What constituted a safe dose?

"You've _got_ to be kidding me! You're thinking too hard again, doofus." Lux glanced away from the boy's hands on hers and found herself staring through a haze of blue at him, colors hanging in the air like the fireworks she'd seen over Piltover.

"Wow, you're really a lightweight, huh?" As he let her go to rub the same strange mixture on his arms, her hand fell into her lap. She felt a very sudden wave of loss, as if he'd slapped her instead of letting go.

"Ekko, wait..." She felt a sob rise in her throat for apparently no reason and reached for him again. His features lit with shock and golden lights crackled around his head (gold, gold and blue, like home, why couldn't she go home?) as the aura around Lux turned purple.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, it's just the shimmer, it does that sometimes. I promise." He grasped her hand in both of his, hope leading first in his expression and then manifesting as green bolts beside his ears. He pulled her in until the strange, dancing lights turned pink and she rested her chin against his shoulder, nevermind the ridiculous dangling earrings that had come with her disguise. "Shh. C'mere. If you start crying, they'll never let you live it down." He whispered, laughing breathily into her ear. She closed her eyes against the blur of colors and felt his pulse against her chest, an entirely unfamiliar euphoria setting in. For the first time since she'd left Demacia, she actually felt happy.

Sure, it was a drug-induced, synthetic kind of happy, but who could tell the difference in this town?

They came back to earth slowly, the last of the party to disburse. Lux had fallen asleep with her lips on the Zaun boy's collar and, when she pulled back, was embarrassed to find a little drool. He woke like a dog, all but leaping off the couch as if he hadn't earned the same vicious headache that Lux did. Maybe it was a tolerance thing? Or maybe he was always this energetic.

Lux, for one, was ready to curl back up on the spot. But she knew she was running short on time- falling asleep hadn't been part of the plan- and if she didn't check in by noon, her handler would think something had happened.

He was belting the target device over his shoulder again, having left it beside him on the couch before they fell asleep. Lux glanced around the room, masking focus with a lazy yawn. "You in some kinda rush?" She slurred the words deliberately, slowly sitting herself up straight. She couldn't afford to spook him now.

"Yeah- I gotta catch up with Ajuna. He's always getting into trouble without me." Ekko grinned again and broke eye contact to do up the buckle.

He really was charming- he'd do so well if she could bring him home. Have him schooled properly, raised in a good home…

"It doesn't really look like he's the one in trouble, now, though."

"Huh?"

She'd barely given Ekko enough time to look back up. The gun she leveled at his chest had been made here. She hadn't dropped her accent. She wasn't supposed to be a Demacian spy- just another no-good, Zaunite thief. Just like all the others in this city. Right? Right.

"It's okay, you can go." Lux tilted her head towards the door, tight, synthetic curls (a pain to do up for this gig, but very "in" this year) bouncing almost comically with the motion. "Just leave the tech, and I'll let you go."

"Woah, Lila... c'mon, you don't even know how to use it." He put on a placating tone, holding his hands out in front of him as if he were approaching a wild thing.

She sort of felt like a wild thing.

"I don't need to know to sell it, pretty boy." It was tough to force the insult through her teeth. All for the show. She was not a Demacian. Not a Demacian!

"...you really think I'm pretty?"

For a second, Lux wasn't sure how to respond. Ekko slapped one hand against the dial on his glove. Lux shot, just once, and her ears started to ring. She watched blood drip through his shirt and then- and then nothing.

No blood, no gunshot, she had seen it but not seen it. It had never happened, but it had, she knew it had, and she was staring dumbfounded at a hole in the wall as the Zaun boy's heel shot out the door.

A month under cover down the drain.

The Demacians were never going to believe this.

"You wouldn't have believed it if you'd seen it, Audric. He was there- I shot him, even, can you believe it? I actually shot someone- and then- poof! Like it never happened! I've never seen magic like it! Isn't that the most amazing thing you've ever heard?"

Lux was pacing around the small, midlevel apartment, shedding pieces of her disguise as she went. An earring flew here, one clipped in extension there. Her hair was losing bulk by the second.

"...you weren't able to retrieve the device, I take it." Her handler was a short, unremarkable man. Perfect in a spy, really. He sounded weary, as if he'd been up all night to wait for her.

...well, he had.

"Well- well, no, not exactly. I'm _sure_ I could have gotten it with magic, but I know that wasn't authorized, and I really did think the gun would be enough." She pulled a lone, ripped-up glove off her left hand (unmanicured for this particular event) and tossed it on the counter. With a sniff of disgust, Audric brushed it into a drawer.

"We've been through this before, Lux- if you aren't sure, simply _ask_. It would save so much time-"

"I _was_ sure!" The mage frowned. "How was I supposed to know he could walk away from a loaded gun?" She challenged.

"...This would have been an instance where I might encourage you to make chase."

"So I could get a million people involved in a street fight in the middle of the morning?"

Audric sighed heavily, "I am not trying to start an argument with you, Luxanna... What is that on your hand?"

She was sliding several salvaged metal rings off her fingers when he asked. She stopped abruptly.

"...the rings?"

He looked suspicious. "Come here."

Lux glanced sheepishly at Audric. He began to tap his foot. Like a petulant child (not far off- she'd only just turned 14), she trudged across the room.

"Let me see that..." Lux braced herself. "Were you high?!"

His grip on her wrist loosened abruptly as he avoided touching the still… _shimmering_ substance on her palm.

"...it was for the mission." She mumbled sheepishly, still feeling very much like she'd been caught doing wrong.

"When? Before you think you shot the boy?"

"What? No! I wasn't- that isn't fair, Audric, I know what happened." Her face turned red. "That was hours before, I swear!"

It was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

I got a little ambitious. Here's a three-for-one- Talon, Swain, _and_ Darius! More Noxians coming soon.

* * *

Lux looked down, pretending to make a note in the small planner on her desk. It was bound in black leather, worn by the dozens of hands to touch it before hers, and petite for the sake of being carried around. Small enough to be tucked into a suit pocket or held in one hand. Small enough that any writing in the pages couldn't be read over one's shoulder and, oh, the magic that emanated from it. It was an enticing little spell, one she committed to memory upon grasping the book but never repeated in this city. She couldn't risk anything this time; her cover was paper-thin. She was too close, far too close.

Lux was sitting in the High Command and she found reasons to avert her eyes from each general that passed by her open door, strategically making phone calls or taking notes to convey respect without appearing weak. It would be weak to show fear of her superiors. It was a death sentence to be arrogant enough to meet their eyes.

She had been walking that tightrope for weeks, now, and it was already paying off.

No high ranking official in Noxus wanted to do their own work. Lux was fifteen- strictly organized from her training with the military, tactful from two years as a spy… and still hopelessly out of her depth.

She hadn't actually been assigned to this position. Her task in Noxus had felt worthless before- there was an invasion across the sea, people dying in droves, real _work_ to be done, and there she was, sent to track letters. Handed a practically useless job as a courier. Close enough to know that important work was being done just outside her reach and being told that it would be too dangerous to maintain a cover within the High Command itself. It simply wasn't done.

Well, she had shown them! One particular general had made himself known as impossible to please- he'd been pulled out of the field and forced into desk work at the prime of his career. Of course, he had taken it in stride, showing no disloyalty in the form of discontent. Instead, he took it out on his many, frequently retiring secretaries.

Lux had applied as a joke. She didn't actually think it was possible that she would _get_ the job without an insider of some sort to secure it (that was how they'd arranged the postal gig).

But, well... there weren't many applicants. Lux presented herself as soft-spoken (but firm), diligent, level-headed, and organized. But most importantly, she did not show the slightest interest in politics. She kept her head down, as a rule. She was merely biding her time before her turn in the draft. She was looking forward to it! This was the closest she could get to serving Noxus before the military pulled her name. _Honestly_ , all she really wanted was to be in Ionia.

...at least the last part was true!

And, well, she was small. Pretty, small, and unthreatening. He looked at her like prey, like the next thing to break. He had been looking forward to sending another weakling crying from his office.

But it turned out that Lux was pretty good at this.

So for two months, close to three, she answered his phone, brought him coffee in the morning, won the favor of the eerie black bird on his shoulder, and managed his calendar. After some time, she was asked to open his letters- a General was too busy to sort through his own mail, after all.

The Demacians had been furious. They'd nearly pulled her from the field on her first day before realizing it might tip off the Noxians.

And then, when she was granted access to the archives, they warmed up very quickly.

Someone stopped in front of her desk. Lux had been distracted, doodling spirals in the margins of her planner. Oops.

"...Is there something I can do for you?" She forced a disinterested tone into her voice, glancing through her lashes at the lithe, dark haired man and snapping the planner shut. He looked uncomfortable in formal attire, and his hair had been recently cut. His eyes didn't meet hers for more than a second, too busy surveying the room. Was this another spy? Maybe they could have tea sometime!

"I'm delivering a message for Swain." His voice was low and gruff. It might have been attractive, on a Demacian.

Lux raised her eyebrows, setting her pen down on her desk.

"From who?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Actually, it is." She flashed an unfriendly smile, all teeth. She wanted to seem threatening, impatient, rude. Like an actual Noxian! "Or else he would be sitting here to take his own messages."

The slim man grit his teeth. Lux looked boredly up.

"Fine." He looked like he wanted to hurt her. "Tell him that General DuCouteau has news."

"And you are...?" Her tone hinged just slightly on demanding. Every word seemed to irritate the Noxian more.

"Someone he trusts." He snapped, slamming a hand against the desk and glaring openly at Lux. She didn't flinch. "What difference does it make?"

She was already reaching for the phone, and raised a finger to her lips in a clear command: Quiet. Talon's eyes narrowed.

"One of General DuCouteau's to see you. ...yes, how did you know?" She smirked up at Talon momentarily, and then looked back towards the phone, "Mhm. Just a moment, then."

Lux set down the phone.

"Go right ahead." She tilted her head towards the closed door behind her desk.

Talon perched in a leather chair across from Swain, uncomfortable without a blade on his arm. He'd shut the door and a muffling spell of the General's creation hung in the air; it was a common practice within the High Command, simply protocol.

"That girl has more of a backbone than your last one." They had finished discussing business, so the blade's shadow finally let himself sound irritated.

"Hm." Swain grunted. "A fine quality, as far as I'm concerned. I've had enough nonsense paraded through my doors- Boram made sure of that."

"I'm not worried about the Grand General, Swain."

He looked boredly at Talon and then glanced at the raven perched on the desk between them. Beatrice was preening. "Fine, fine. What are you getting at?"

"She's educated enough to do this job, no one has heard of her..." He rubbed his wrist where a blade should have been. "...and Katarina says she's seen eyes like hers before." He said the let part grudgingly, not wanting to admit conspiracy.

Swain's eyes narrowed. He stroked Beatrice's head with two fingers, an unusually gentle gesture for the general.

"What do you think is the greatest threat to Noxus today, Talon?" He asked abruptly. Talon leaned back. Nothing was ever abrupt with this man, not really. He was calculating to the core.

"...I don't have time for this. The DuCouteaus are expecting my return," He was already halfway out of his seat, eager to escape what he thought might be a long lecture.

"Has that coward in the Grand General's seat convinced you that Demacia is an actual threat?"

Talon paused. What Swain had just said, and so casually, was an executable offense.

...well, not executable. But he would have to duel for it, and what was a duel against a Darkwill but an execution?

"The girl out there is the only thing standing between me and another one of Boram's pawns. If I thought she were more a threat than the vultures he sent to read my notes, she would be gone." Swain paused, glancing idly at the cane against his desk.

"...Besides. She makes better coffee than they did."

Talon blanched.

"What if she _is_ a spy?" He pressed.

"Then I can finally get some exercise." Swain waved a hand. Talon scowled.

"I'll inform General DuCouteau of your response." He said stiffly, glancing at the door.

"Excellent. Send Marilla in when you go."

Talon cast a suspicious gaze at Swain, but nodded before he left.

He passed the Demacian again on his way out, pausing momentarily at her desk. She was folding a bit of paper in no particular way, just smaller and smaller squares.

She didn't _look_ like much. But in Talon's experience, the best never did.

"He wants to see you." He tapped the desk in front of Lux and, this time, she jumped a little. It was almost too... Deliberate.

She shot him a disapproving gaze and rose to her feet. Talon had seen fear- she was not afraid.

"Thanks." She muttered, turning her back on him to walk through the doorway.

...Thanks? What the hell was she playing at?

Lux felt her pulse rise as soon as she turned to shut the door. That was a mistake. A slip of the tongue- a completely understandable accident!

No one showed _gratitude_ in Noxus, not in passing, not as a gesture of good upbringing or well-meaning or…

O _h god_ _,_ was she going to die for being polite?.

"...you wanted to see me, sir?" She forced ease into her voice and smoothed down the front of her skirt, turning to look into the room. Swain was standing, leaning heavily against his cane.

"I did. Come, have a seat."

Instantly a bad sign. If he actually wanted something, he would just _tell_ her so she could be out of his way. Was something wrong? Did that stranger say something?

...did he hear her say thanks? (Okay, that was a little paranoid.)

"Is there something you need?" She couldn't help sounding a little suspicious but crossed the room, settling silently into the leather chair Talon had just occupied. Swain remained standing.

"Yes, but that isn't important." He seemed to smile, but it was impossible to tell. "Are you familiar with General DuCouteau?"

Why yes, I stole from his library, during my first week in Noxus! How _ever_ did you know?

"...not personally, sir. I know his house's legacy, of course." She knew more about Noxian aristocracy than she cared to mention. It was simply part of the job.

"Of course." He echoed. "That was Talon- his newest protege, as I understand it. Though they have been keeping quiet about it." Lux remained silent. She could tolerate a lecture. Maybe he was just bored.

"He noticed something odd." _Oh no._ "How long have you been dying your hair, Marilla?"

"W-what?" She could handle this. It was a perfectly reasonable question- she wouldn't be alarmed if she weren't a spy. "Oh. I thought it was more... Subtle. I don't know, a few years?"

Swain was unreadable. No news there.

"I see." He paused. He was giving her the opportunity to slip up. To say too much. She refused to take the bait. "In any event. There are several things I'd like you to fetch from the archives, when you have the opportunity. Now would be best." He finally sat down, leaning the cane against his desk, and slid a sheet of paper across the wood.

Lux plucked it up between two fingers, glancing briefly at the names. "Would you like me to forward your calls, then?"

"No need. You won't be that long."

"As you say." Lux stood quickly, folding the square of parchment in her hands. "Ah- is there anything else, sir?"

He was staring at her. Just how much did he know?

"No, not for now."

* * *

There was a very tall person standing in front of her desk. Lux had to crane her neck to look at him properly, and even then found herself seeing more breastplate than face.

She could probably wrap herself three times in the width of his cloak.

"...What can I do for you, sir?" Lux had made a rule of being polite to the larger ones, and the ones that came in armor. The grumpiest Generals usually had either quality.

"I'm here to see Swain." He had a harsh, gravelly voice, and already seemed to be in an unpleasant mood.

"...do you have an appointment?" Lux knew that he didn't. She managed them, after all.

Darius stared down at Lux. Lux looked boredly up at Darius.

"He's expecting me."

"Fair enough. Give me one moment and I can check on that for you." She barely had the chance to lift her phone.

"I don't have time for this." He began to circle the desk, and Lux leapt out of her seat. She found herself standing between the very unhappy Noxian and the door to Swain's office.

Darius looked coldly down at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"If you can _j_ _ust_ give me your patience for a minute, I can see if General Swain has time for you." Her voice sped up, and she reached back to touch the frame of the door. She couldn't back down now, she'd look like a coward!

...oh, she was starting to think like one of them.

"I **t** **old** you, he's expecting me." Darius growled, leaning down to look her in the eyes.

His breath was... Less than pleasant.

"Showing me what you had for lunch isn't going to make me open this door any faster, _sir_." Lux raised herself to full height.

Someone snorted behind her.

"Darius! I see you've met Marilla." Lux hadn't ever heard Swain sound so... Friendly. She turned slightly, finding herself mere inches away from the elder General, and carefully maneuvered from between the two. "She's right, you know. Was Ionia so dull that you have to pick fights with my secretary?"

Ionia? Lux perked up.

"...I didn't come here to waste our time, Swain."

"No, just to bully eighteen year olds. I understand."

"You're one to talk." He looked pointedly at Swain- down a bit, Lux noticed. Maybe it was just the hunch from the cane.

"Fair, fair- Do come in. Marilla, you should join us for this. I know how... Interested you are in Ionia." Darius glanced skeptically at Lux.

What was Swain doing? Did he know? Was it a test? Or was he just commenting on her cover?

"Absolutely, sir, I would love to."

Even if he _did_ know, she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

* * *

"I take it you don't plan on eating this one." Darius looked skeptically across the table, more at the raven than the General.

"She does her job." He sounded immediately disinterested, and made a point of arranging the papers on his desk.

"Explain something to me."

"Haven't I always?"

"Ha. When the master of spies is suspicious of your newest pet, why keep her at all?"

Swain stared at Darius, unreadable.

"She makes very good coffee. You should try it."

"You would not overlook a spy outside your door for her skill as a _Barista_."

"If I thought she was a spy, would I have let her overhear sensitive information about Ionia?"

Darius scowled. "That's another thing. She's too curious. Like a Piltovian- even I can see that."

"Is this all you came for, Darius?" Swain looked boredly across the desk. "To accuse me of being an idiot?"

"Your words, not mine." He leaned back in his seat, "...I know you don't want to be here. If you explain the girl's part in all this, I might be able to help."

"You're putting far too much weight on a pretty receptionist. Haven't I always told you exactly as much as you need to be aware of?"

For a moment, neither General was willing to break eye contact. Then, finally, Darius slid back his chair.

"Fine. Keep her. It isn't my problem." He stood easily in the heavy armor, glancing at the door. "I'll see you when I see you."

* * *

I swear to god Swain isn't keeping Lux around for the coffee. I promise, guys.

Once again, feel free to leave a review to request another character! Give me a challenge and I will find a way.


	3. Chapter 3

Massive chapter dump incoming. I went to NYCC last weekend, which meant two five hour train rides… and immediately got sick upon returning home. I've had way too much time to write, so…

By request, more Noxians! They're going like hotcakes.

(Kneel before Vlad)

* * *

Lux was in the archives. Oh, she'd been sent here, of course, she was nothing if not obedient. It was half the reason Swain kept her around.

She had two tomes gathered under one arm, dusty enough to make her nose itch. History, strategy- something like that. Lux had barely even read the bindings; they weren't important compared to the rune pages stowed in her purse. Each time the General sent her down here, she'd take the opportunity to borrow some books of her own... some at the Demacians' request, and some out of sheer curiosity. More often than not, she found herself alone to weave between the shelves and, even when she wasn't, no one cared to speak to a mere secretary.

It was enough to coax her guard down, after months of the same routine. So, when Lux heard a voice in the usually crypt-quiet archives and felt cold fingers brush her shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

The person behind her laughed and the two books she'd been holding fell abruptly, landing with a harsh smack on the marble floor.

So much for quiet.

"He never mentioned you being so jumpy."

Lux turned slowly, feeling her heart pound furiously for the interruption. Had he been following her? Had she not noticed?

"I thought I was alone." She managed, after a second of hesitation, glancing down the ground. She didn't want to kneel in front of him to pick up the books. It was stupid, but it was the Noxian thing to do.

(A Demacian would have already been on the floor to help her.)

"I can see that." He grinned, displaying two rows of eerily white teeth. "But now, you have company. And I've been told I make for _delightful_ company." The man was dressed from head to toe in red and white robes, so Lux had to guess he was a mage. He didn't look like any mages she had ever seen.

"...told by anyone who hadn't been working for you?" Lux muttered, making a point to turn away from the man before stooping to pick up her books.

The tall mage laughed. "Ahh, so _that'_ _s_ why he likes you. Absolutely charming. Oh, you didn't need help with that, did you?" He leered down at Lux.

"Do I look like the kind of person that needs your help?" It was easy for her to glare. She rose to her feet quickly, ignoring the dust on her knees and turning to exit the hall. Vladimir would tolerate no such thing, turning with a flourish to block her way and extending fingers capped with claw-like blades. "Now, now, don't be so cross. Jericho doesn't mind sharing his toys with me, I promise."

There was no part of that sentence that didn't make Lux's skin crawl. The hemomancer closed the gap between them and dug his claws into the shelf behind her head, metal grinding into wood. Lux felt his robe brush against her legs. She was going to drop the books again, she was sure.

"I am _not_ a toy." She put forth her best effort to snarl up at Vladimir even as he leaned in. His finger- no, claw- traced the line of her cheekbone, gently enough to keep from drawing blood.

"You are whatever we'd like you to be, my dear, haven't you learned that much yet?"

Lux's eyes widened and, for the first time in a very long while, she did something completely on impulse.

She shifted Swain's books into one arm and, in one quick motion, pulled her hand back and slapped.

The hemomancer's pale cheek quickly began to turn red, and Lux bit her lip. Her palm was throbbing.

Vlad took a step backward, eyes wide.

Lux pressed herself further back against the bookshelf, Swain's requests still secure under her left arm.

"You little _beast_." He moved too quickly for Lux to evade and dug his bladed fingers into the soft curve of her cheek. She felt blood dripping but didn't quite recognize the pain, adrenaline like fire in her veins.

"Do not think for a moment that this taste has absolved you." His fingers came away bloody and Lux clasped a hand to the side of her face, feeling the sticky fluid bead up and roll down her neck. Vlad spared her one final, disgusted glance and turned on a heel, stalking furiously from between the shelves.

Lux noticed distantly that he did not leave any trace of her blood on the marble floor.

* * *

"Your little errand girl attacked me." The hemomancer pouted, sprawled languidly on the couch arranged in Swain's office. The General had yet to claim either armchair opposite it, pacing quietly about the room. Only the tap of his cane measured his steps. "And she is horribly iron deficient. You should feed your pets better."

"I don't keep hiring secretaries for you to drain them, Vladimir." Swain drawled.

"You don't?"

His tone was so scandalized that Swain had to pause and look at him. He made a point of seeming reproachful, but Vlad smiled nonetheless. "Not if they do their jobs."

"She can't do her job short a pint?" Vladimir extended a hand over the back of the couch, beckoning with one bladed finger. Swain didn't move, but the bird from his shoulder took off, securing its talons where the steel was strapped to Vlad's knuckle.

"You would let me taste her, wouldn't you, Beatrice?" He cooed at the raven in the same sickening way some Piltovians addressed their dogs. Swain looked less than amused.

"Enough. You've _obviously_ had your taste. Now, was there any real reason you came all this way?"

Vladimir's head finally revealed itself over the back of the couch.

"You wound me. Is visiting my dearest friend not an adequate reason to travel?"

"Across the sea? No."

Vlad snorted. "Fine. If you'd like the truth... These Ionians are boring. There's hardly any work with that filthy chemist leading the way." He was actually pouting. "Do you have any idea how tedious torture becomes after the hundredth civilian?"

"What a terrible tragedy for you." It was entirely possible that Swain was being sarcastic.

"It really is." The hemomancer made a point of examining the blades on his fingers as if they were his nails. "My talents are so wasted abroad... Are you _sure_ this one isn't hiding anything? I could easily check." He grinned.

"I am eventually going to become tired of that question." Swain frowned, and Vlad laughed. "Ahh, I see. Does the great Tactician have a crush?"

Swain scowled.

"Oh, don't make that face. Beatrice knows I was kidding. Don't you?" Vlad began to make rather hideous kissy-faces at the raven. Beatrice turned her head. "Ugh, neither of you are any fun. It's _draining_ just to sit here." He finally sat up properly, waving the bird from his hand. "The Matron has missed you, by the way."

"So there was a point to this visit." Swain drawled.

"The point was the pleasure of your company!" Vladimir rose to his feet. "And to have a look at your little pet." Beatrice turned her head, eyeing the hemomancer sternly, "No, not you, darling."

"The Deceiver, Vladimir." Swain finally began to look impatient, turning to face him. "If she had news, let her speak with me personally."

"Who's to say she hasn't been?" The person in the red robes smiled at him.

* * *

Swain did not look happy.

"Vladimir tells me that you attacked him, Marilla."

Lux pressed the damp, black cloth more securely against her cheek, blood still seeping into the fabric. It was exhausting to maintain the act- she was in pain, of course, and a few short years ago she might have been able to run to her mother with these cuts and be coddled back to health.

Lux wanted to go home. Of course she wanted to go home! She wanted to be six years old again, to be swept into her mother's arms and to listen to her brave big brother make grand promises about felling whatever foul beast had wounded her.

Garen would have protected her.

Lux's eyes welled up, and there was nothing she could do to stop the reflex.

"I hit him." She confessed, casting her gaze away from Swain.

"Is there any particular reason you decided to do that?"

It was easier to keep her eyes from watering if she didn't look at the General. She didn't want to see his disappointment, or scorn, or... More likely, nothing. The monster was damn near unreadable.

"...he was touching me." Her voice shook, "He shouldn't have cornered me." She added quickly, forcing spite into her warbly tone. It would be more believable if she seemed angry.

Honestly, Lux only felt scared.

"Perhaps not."

Swain's affirmation, though curt, gave her courage.

"I am not some- some doll for him to play with." The words left her mouth in a hiss and Lux had to bite her lip to keep from sobbing. Nothing would look weaker. Nothing would more quickly destroy her cover than to let him see her tears.

Swain watched Lux silently, waiting for her to crack. She drew in a slow breath and squared her shoulders, unyielding.

"I have to agree." He said finally, when it appeared she wouldn't break. His cane tapped softly against the hardwood floor as he rose to his feet. "If anyone else impedes you from doing your work, I expect you to respond the same way."

Lux was surprised enough to look up at the General, unable to mask the tears that sprung, anew.

"W-what?"

He was watching her closely, measuring every step and misstep.

"As my assistant, Marilla, you are an extension of me. Is that clear?" It wasn't any better, Lux thought, to be part of a butcher than to be one's toy.

"It is." She coughed, trying to mask the shaking of her voice.

"Good. And I am not to be trifled with." He had crossed over to Lux's side of the desk as she stared at her lap, and the sudden proximity made her flinch.

"Let me see it." Swain looked down at her and she stared up, slowly pulling the cloth away from her cheek. Her fingers were sticky with blood and her face was smeared in it, still as fresh as if the skin had just been torn.

"Are you in pain?"

Of **course** she was in pain. She had been sitting at her desk for half an hour tending to the gashes before he'd even called her in.

"A little." She turned her face away, revealing more of the wounds. "I'll live."

Swain chuckled, a rough, grating sound like tires on gravel. "If I touch, will you hit me, too?" He sounded amused. Lux shuddered, glancing up at him.

"...it's alright." She wasn't sure why she said that, but Swain pressed his one free hand to her cheek nonetheless. The touch pulled a whimper from her throat- the cuts were deep, deeper than she wanted to think about, and his skin was rough against them.

"Some in this city believe," He cleared his throat, "That scars exist to remind us of our failures." Lux recognized heat before she sensed the magic trickling from Swain's palm into her cheek. The light it let off was sickly green in her periphery and she could feel the skin twisting on her face, pulling taut over the gashes Vlad had opened. "You haven't failed me yet." The surge of magic stopped as abruptly as it had come and the General pulled his hand away, slick with blood. The raven's eyes were unusually bright, and Lux swore it was watching her. "Did you get the books?"

She nodded quickly, raising a hand to her cheek to feel the smooth, fresh skin. "I can bring them at once."

"Good. And wash your face."

* * *

Fuckin' Leblanc, amirite? Or Vlad. Was it Vlad? We just don't know!

As always, review to request a new champion. I swear I'm working on Cait's chapter, but bringing Piltover into the mix brings Ezreal, so that will probably be an extended arc.

I have Katarina's appearance planned, so don't think this is the last we'll see of Noxus.


	4. Chapter 4

Enter Ionia. I had to get around to it _sometime,_ so here's to Soraka, breaking our string of male features. Karma is coming up next- this is really just a lead in.

* * *

She shouldn't have been surprised to find the healer there.

Lux had been sent to Ionia- _**finally**_ \- as a messenger. After years of hoping, years of climbing the ranks with the lingering need to do _something_ , to really, physically help-

It was a joke. A nasty, cruel, practically Noxian joke that she was here under these circumstances.

After years of an almost peaceful standstill, Boram's forces had started to move on the north again. It seemed the perfect excuse, to Lux, for Demacia to intervene in earnest. They could stop hiding now, stop the business of theft and infiltration and just send in the troops, for god's sake. Noxus's supply lines had to be stretched, mutiny was brewing in the capital, and now this? The Institute hadn't agreed to this! It couldn't stand behind genocide like it had during 'just' war.

But Demacia didn't send an army, and the Institute was silent still. Lux was neither general nor politician and so she had no say in the matter. When she was called to Ionia, she had been hopeful.

Years in Noxus had given her command over spells so terrible and powerful that their mechanisms had been locked away since the Rune Wars. She'd read the tomes herself, she could recite them by heart, and here she was.

Being asked to send _messages_. Being sent to warn people- innocent people- away from their homes before the storms came.

So here she was. Luck had brought her to an outpost at the edge of the war zone ( _oh, to call it a war zone, what a sick joke_ ). This was the next target, so she'd been told. Leave it to Noxians to bomb the sick and injured.

She was supposed to have a two hour window. It wasn't much, but she'd worked with less before. Everyone she spoke to on the way had directed her to a surprisingly small, patchwork building near the center of the place. There hadn't ever been a town here, so the outpost was merely a temporary setup of tents and wood buildings in the middle of the much larger forest, housing those too wounded or too weak to retreat any further from the front. Lux merely had to push aside the strip of cloth that served as a door to walk inside, and was immediately hit with a stench not unlike rot. Empty beds around the single large room indicated either that some in recovery had left to the tents… or that the dead had been moved outside.

Considering the smell, Lux would bet on the latter. There was only so much one healer could do, even of Soraka's rising fame.

The celestial had taken a knee beside one of the sickbeds. Her hands were laid over a man's chest, applying no pressure and emitting a faint green glow, and she had closed her eyes to concentrate far before Lux entered.

She opened them as the Mage arrived, startlingly yellow in contrast with her skin. Lux allowed herself to stare, treading carefully into the room. She clutched the letter at her side, her palm sweating into the scroll.

"Please don't let me interrupt." Lux stopped a fair distance from the bed and bowed her head to take down her hood.

Soraka didn't speak, only nodded and directed her eyes back to the unconscious man. Lux would stand still and silent for the next several minutes, clasping her hands together at her belt in an effort to keep herself from fidgeting. When Soraka pulled back her hands, they came away with blood, but the man on the table coughed several times and opened his eyes, attempting immediately to sit up. The healer placed a hand firmly on his shoulder to keep him there.

"I will _not_ save you again if you dislodge that rib. You will have to be still for the next few hours for it to set." She had a stern, almost biting way of speaking that immediately set Lux on edge. She hadn't known what to expect from this woman, and did not look forward to being scolded.

"O-Okay." The man coughed again, and a spurt of blood dribbled down his chin.

"And do not speak!" She finally looked back at Lux, wiping her hands on a cloth beside the bed. "Whatever news you have, can you relay it outside?"

Lux looked, wide-eyed, at the healer, and nodded.

"Good. This is a place for rest- come along."

She merely passed Lux on her way out, forcing the Mage to follow.

"I'm afraid our resources are limited to hold any more refugees here, if you've been sent for that." Lux hadn't noticed the hooves until they were outside, and found herself struggling not to stare. She kept in stride with the celestial to make the task easier.

"No, that isn't... That isn't it, ma'am. Here-" She produced the letter, again, and Soraka took it carefully from her hands. It was easier this way, just to have the news read. Lux still hated trying to explain her coming, no matter how many times she had before.

"...how much time?" The Starchild crumpled the paper in her hands and it lit up abruptly, disintegrated in a burst of light.

"Two hours, maybe less. With respect, we need to start moving now, ma'am." Lux took a breath. "I've done this before, that's why they sent me. I can guide you through it- we have enough time."

"Whatever you need, I will lend my aid." The healer nodded, casting her gaze to the tents around.

"How many do you think can walk?"

"...under the circumstances, most will."

"How quickly can you call a meeting?"

"As we speak, the Noxians are less than three miles out. Intelligence suggests that they won't breach the front for this- which can only mean one thing." Horrible as it was, Lux was glad to have an audience of refugees. There would be no explaining what to expect, no wailing children, no families together that made her ache of home. The men and women here had already been touched by Noxus. This was not new.

"If I see anyone retreat to their tent, they will be left behind." She saw a few people frown, "We don't have time to save family photos right now. If you're able enough to help carry someone else, stay with us. Everyone else, go north until you reach the next road, and keep going. We can't be sure how far the Noxians plan to extend."

Lux stepped down from the small box that had served as a platform and watched as most of the crowd disbursed, men and women retreating into the wood without question. They had already been close enough to the front to understand urgency and did not stop, did not hesitate, did not glance at the tents behind them. Good. Lux felt a weight off her shoulders- she wouldn't have to explain war to anyone here. She barely understood it, herself.

Soraka kept a watchful eye on those remaining in the crowd. It was a small group- two dozen, at most- more able men and women than those unable to rise to their feet. She sighed softly, grateful for their fortune.

Lux was counting heads, all the while. "Do you think we can ask them to pair off? We'll move more slowly that way, but..." She looked uncertainly at the celestial, as if she would have any better ideas. They were crippling themselves by refusing to abandon their wounded, but...

The Mage and the healer looked at each other, saying nothing but understanding the same thing. They wouldn't leave anyone behind. The idea was too horrible to consider.

"How much time do we have?"

Lux looked southward. She couldn't see anything yet but, then, they wouldn't. Not until it was too late.

"...We can take ten minutes, I think, without cutting too close." She looked uncertainly at Soraka. "What do you want to do?"

"I may be able to bring some of them to their feet. Find me when our time is up."

She wove easily into the crowd- people stepped aside to yield to her, in the same uncertain manner Lux had felt the need to. No one took the celestial for granted here.

Lux heaved a sigh and sat down on the box, fiddling with the book at her side. It was a small thing, strapped to her belt, but having her hands on the leather binding calmed her. She didn't really need to read it- she knew the words by heart.

 _Victory for our allies, defeat for our enemies, and Justice for all._

Why couldn't it be so simple?

She thumbed through the pages for a few spare minutes, head bowed as if in prayer. All of her doubts about her early enlistment, her placement as a spy, her lost childhood- they had all dissolved when she was called to Ionia. Lux was certain, somehow, that she was needed here.

And then she heard the thunder.

It wasn't a storm, but it always sounded that way, from whatever mechanism they used to drop the bombs. Lux's chest tightened- they were supposed to have time. An hour still, at least. Slowly, afraid to confirm what she already knew, she looked up towards the sky.

There was chaos in the camp. Everyone had heard the noise, and the dark green cloud creeping in boded no better. They were out of time. Singed would not make a poison that could be outrun.

Lux was still. She honestly, really, didn't know what to do. No one had prepared her for this, she had never really been to war, and... She wasn't meant to be here. Even if she were stupid enough to stand and fight, what would it end in besides her death and Demacia being dragged fully into the conflict?

"I have _never_ seen such a quick two hours." Soraka was standing over her. How was she supposed to explain this?

"W-we were wrong. We must have gotten it wrong, I'm so sorry, I don't..." For the first time in years, Lux actually felt her age.

"I don't know what to do." There, it was out. She hadn't been trained for this, the only idea coming to mind was to teleport and she could not take twenty Ionians with her.

But she couldn't _leave_ them here!

The smoke was rolling in too quickly. Even without being inside the cloud, Lux felt a cough rise in her throat and bent forward to give in to it, blocking her mouth with both hands.

When she pulled them away, there was blood.

They were out of time.

Lux wiped her palms on her pants and drew in a shaky breath. She extended her hands blindly in front of her and was still able to throw out a shield. It shimmered on its way to the crowd and caught each Ionian in turn, creating a sparkling, golden barrier over all of their heads. It did nothing for the pain already in Lux's chest and she coughed again, spitting up more blood. The shield flickered.

Soraka put both hands onto her shoulders and Lux actually felt the force of magic through her, curling somewhere in her lungs to close whatever wounds the noxious poisons had created.

"Come closer!" The celestial's voice rang clearly above the din, amplified by fear as well as magic. "We stand as one!"

It would be easier to maintain the shield in a smaller area. Soraka was too well-versed in magic not to know that.

Lux kept her arms extended and fed mana to the spell, feeling herself weaken every second that it hung above their heads. The awful poison was upon them now, held at bay only by her glowing barrier. Dropping it was death.

"W-we need to start moving." Lux found her voice with a whimper, tearing her concentration for the moment it took to glance at Soraka standing over her. "...I can't hold it forever." The healer nodded, looking at the crowd. They were all so close as to make out faces now- some panicked, some angry, some calm.

"Can you hear her?" She asked calmly, one hand still clamped on Lux's shoulder. "We'll move as one. As quickly as you can, do not step outside the shield."

They moved. Lux kept herself at the back of the group, refreshing the barrier in front of her whenever it began to weaken. The forest outside was fully obscured by green smoke, so thick as to be opaque. Just as Lux felt her knees begin to weaken, the celestial swept her up into her arms, walking for the two of them as so many of the veterans ahead supported their wounded. The shield was failing by the minute, intensity fading until it was barely translucent above them.

"Here, Lux." The Starchild whispered and Lux felt her mana restored, so suddenly potent that it threatened to burst, unbidden, from her fingertips. She channelled it into the shield around them and it surged to life again, bright as Demacian gold.

They would remain like that, for what felt like years- the Starchild feeding her mana and Lux maintaining her barrier, until the green mist faded and finally, with the moon high above their heads, the Mage felt herself fade.


	5. Chapter 4 and a half

I'm procrastinating. I have Karma's chapter sitting on my desktop, _and_ Caitlyn's, _and_ TF's, and here I am, writing Kindred.

(Spoiler alert, I didn't kill Lux off. Keep your socks on.)

* * *

Lux would wake on the forest floor, so late into the night that every trace of poison had faded from the air and the moon glowed high above the trees. She could no longer feel any aching in her lungs, but there was no sign of Soraka or the Ionians she'd escorted around her.

The forest was unnaturally silent. It would be a clear sign, later, that something was wrong, but Lux suspected nothing yet. She rose to her feet and glanced, dazed, between each of the trees. For a long while, there was nothing, until a pale figure peeked from within the brush.

"Hello?" Lux took a step forward, lowering the staff clasped in her hands.

 **"** **What is that?** **"** A gruff voice demanded.

 _"She is trying not to threaten us."_ A softer followed.

"Are you lost, too?" Her first instinct was to be friendly, even as the creature remained cloaked within the trees.

 **"It is too bold."**

 _"Only ignorant, dear Wolf. Come closer, Luxanna, we can hardly see you in the dark."_ A shiver ran down her spine but Lux made her way out of the clearing nonetheless, entranced by the soothing tone.

"Do you know me?" She dropped her staff into the grass, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

 _"We are here for you, of course."_ She was near enough now to make out a face, but was greeted only by the violet glow behind Lamb's black mask.

Lux gasped.

 _ **"**_ **Now it knows."** __The deep voice chuckled and Lux could make nothing of it out but glowing eyes, its discarnate form masked beneath so many trees.

"N-no, I- I'm not dying, Soraka saved me..."

 _"But if not, why is there so much mourning in your eyes?"_

" **Will it run? Is it mine?"**

 _"Patience, Wolf."_ The words were spoken not to chastise but in humor, and Lux could make out the Wolf's dark fur only where Lamb caressed its back. _"We know you are so tired. Would you like me to help you rest?"_

"I-I don't want to." She stammered, clutching in vain at her staff. Lamb was right, exhaustion felt like bricks tied to her limbs. This was not something she could fight. "I'm not tired." She lied.

 **"Let her** **r** **un."** The Wolf surged forward to bare its teeth and Lux winced, but stood her ground.

 _"Hush now, Lux._ " Lamb's voice soothed her, _"It is a simple choice. Two paths, one_ _fate."_

"That isn't any choice at all!"

 **"It is fighting.** **"** __Wolf displayed a toothy grin, and Lux saw the glimmer of an arrow lower in Lamb's hands. _"Perhaps she will be yours."_

"I d-don't have to die." Her teeth chattered, "I'm not tired, I'm awake. I'm awake!"

* * *

Lux roused with a start, her bedsheets drenched in sweat. She sat up so quickly that the nurse beside her jumped, rushing quickly to her bedside and placing soft hands on her shoulders to lower her back down. "No, no, Lux, you must rest." She couldn't summon the energy to struggle and sunk back into the unpleasant dampness of the bed, one question fighting its way onto her lips. "W-Where am I?"

The answer didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was here.

It was a dream. Just a dream.

* * *

Happy Halloween!


End file.
